


the happiest tears

by holographicbubbles



Series: happy tears (or time travel and birthgays) [2]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Elsa's Birthday (Disney), Elsa's birthGAY, F/F, and soft, it's very gay, very soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:54:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24794995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holographicbubbles/pseuds/holographicbubbles
Summary: It's Elsa's birthday, and upon Elsa's recent revelations, Anna's pretty sure she's planned the perfect surprise for her.(a companion to my other one-shot,for once, she cried happy tearswhich you can read either before or after or not at all [though I'd be really happy if you did choose to read it!] This works as a stand-alone but could also be read as a sequel/prequel thing)
Relationships: Elsa/Honeymaren (Disney)
Series: happy tears (or time travel and birthgays) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1771342
Comments: 17
Kudos: 48





	the happiest tears

**Author's Note:**

> this was so fun to write you have no idea

Elsa shadowed Anna down the long hallways of the castle, not quite ready to face her, scared of what could happen, but she also needed to talk. Anna was a good ten feet in front of her. Elsa shuffled her feet, looking nervously at the floor. She glanced up, just in time to see Anna about to turn around and gasped, ducking into a room which’s door had thankfully been open. She heard Anna’s feet move again and reluctantly ducked out.

“Elsa,” Anna said, turning around and rolling her eyes. “I know that you’re following me like a lost puppy, and I would appreciate knowing why.”

Elsa hung her head, walking slowly up to her sister. She looked up slightly, her eyes wide. “Anna! I wasn’t following you!” she said through gritted teeth, trying to brush past her sister and continue her brisk walk. _I don’t want to face this… not yet-_ “I have no idea what you’re-”

Anna grabbed her arm, cutting her off as she gasped in surprise. Anna’s nails dug into her skin as she pulled her into the nearest room, closing the door behind them. It was Elsa’s old-old bedroom, the one she’d had as a kid, but dust hadn’t settled on any of the surfaces yet since she’d been staying in it when she stayed overnight after their game nights, like that night had been. “Yeah, something’s up,” Anna said when Elsa subconsciously grabbed their mother’s scarf off of the chair it had been hanging on, left from her visit the week prior. She wrapped it tight around her shoulders, sitting down on the foot of her old bed. Anna gave her a skeptical glare. “Seriously, Elsa. What’s wrong?”

“I-I-I,” she stuttered, her heart pounding in her ears as her eyes welled up with tears. She groaned, flipping over to her stomach, lying down, and burying her face in her pillow. The weight on the bed shifted as Anna sat down next to her, resting a gentle, warm hand on her back.

“Elsa?” she said nervously. “Did something happen?”

Elsa rolled back over, her eyes glassy with her nerves. “I-I-I- Honeymaren!” she blurted out and an icy hand flew to cover her mouth. Her throat felt sore as her heart ached, beating far too fast against her ribcage. Anna’s eyes widened. 

“Elsa! Is she okay?”

“She’s… more than okay?” Elsa purred with a question-like pitch by the end.

“I’m sorry, I’m confused,” Anna’s brows wrinkled as she frowned. 

“She’s- I’m- we’re- she’s my girlfriend?” Elsa said.

“Is that a question?” Anna raised a brow with practiced precision.

“No!” Elsa whimpered, rolling back over and hiding her face in the pillows. 

“Okay,” Anna said. “Is that like a... Kristoff and me kind of situation? I mean, I’m assuming you mean as more than friends.”

“Well, yeah,” Elsa sniffed and shifted her face to the side to look at Anna.

“How long has this been…?”

“Two months,” Elsa said quietly, biting her lip. With a sigh, she sat up and moved closer to Anna, who looked at her in indignant anger. 

“EXCUSE ME?” she yelled.

“Um, two months?”

“So you’ve been dating for TWO MONTHS, and didn’t think to tell me?”

“I was scared!”

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry,” Anna brushed a few strands of hair away from Elsa’s eyes. “I’m sorry. It was alright of you to feel scared.” 

“You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be?” Anna frowned slightly. “I’m happy for you, Elsa! Well, a little mad. You didn’t tell me earlier!” she grinned jokingly.

“But… but…” Elsa’s eyes widened in fear and suddenly it was a little hard to breathe. 

“Hey, it’s okay. That was a joke,” Anna took her hand and squeezed it tightly. Elsa’s eyes fell to her lap and she realized she’d been tugging at her fingers again, an unconscious habit left behind from when she’d had to wear gloves. “And I _am_ happy for you. Really happy,” Anna confirmed with a smile and brushed her finger against the corner of Elsa’s lip, momentarily pulling it into a smile before it fell back into a deep frown.

“But we’ll never be really together!” Elsa burst into tears, Anna catching her as she crumpled to the bed and pulling her head into her lap, running her fingers through Elsa’s platinum locks.

“Why? Are the Northuldra… against that? They didn’t strike me like they would be, but life likes to surprise me, I guess.” 

“No! They’re not,” Elsa sniffed. “Arendelle is!”

“WHAT,” Anna fumed, in a less question-like way and in a more galled, or even angry, way. “You mean to tell me that you didn’t make same-gender marriage legal here? I thought you had!” she grimaced, probably as she added it to her mental list of things she needed to get done. 

“I was scared,” Elsa said again, her tone pleading as she gripped onto Anna’s hand as if for dear life. “I was in the closet and scared that the people weren't going to take it right and that they were all going to hate me more!” 

“Hey, I’m sorry. That’s valid and it’s okay to be scared. But I highly doubt they would’ve. Now I’m just mad that you could’ve done something four years ago, and that many couples who are currently in-hiding could’ve gotten married! Elsa!” Anna whined. 

“I’m sorry,” Elsa sniffed, leaning her head against Anna’s shoulder and turning her face away from Anna’s so that Anna couldn’t see the tears that started to drip faster down her cheeks.

“No-nonononono! That was supposed to be a joke! I’m really bad at telling jokes! I should just not tell any more jokes! What am I doing?!” she smiled through grit teeth, and Elsa sat up and returned the grin with a slight one of her own. “Look, I’ll do that as soon as I can.”

Elsa nodded, her head falling back to Anna’s lap. She closed her eyes against the silk of the nightgown her sister was wearing, already a little damp from her tears. “I’m sorry,” she said again.

“Hey,” Anna said, running a hand through her hair. “I’m not mad.”

“I know _you’re_ not,” Elsa sniffed. “But I feel guilty! I’ve been so open with Maren back home, and now you’ve made me realize that there were so many other people like us here that have been in hiding for... who knows how long!”

“Elsa,” Anna said gently. “Don’t feel bad. We’ll make this wrong right, just like we’ve made every other wrong right too.” 

Elsa’s head buzzed. “Okay,” she said quietly. “Okay. Thank you.” 

“I know what you need,” Anna grinned, brushing away a tear from Elsa’s cheek. “Come on, scooch close. Let’s turn these tears into happy tears, okay?”

“Happy tears,” Elsa repeated dryly, unconvinced, as she curled up into Anna’s hug. 

“Yep! Happy tears,” Anna smiled. “You can do that,” she cleared her throat and then began to sing. _Where the northwind…”_

 _“Meets the sea,”_ Elsa joined in. _“There’s a river,”_ she yawned. _“Full of memory.”_

 _“Sleep my darling, safe and sound,”_ Anna drooped her pinkie over Elsa’s nose. _“For in this river all is found,”_ she smiled, stretching her arm around Elsa and pulling her close. Elsa sniffed, curling into the warm, soothing gesture. Her eyes slid shut as she curled closer into Anna’s side. Anna brushed away the few final tears that had fallen.

“Were those happy tears yet?”

Elsa hesitated and then shook her head. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay,” Anna kissed the top of her head lightly. “One day they will be, I promise.” 

“One day?” Elsa whispered. 

“One day," Anna confirmed, continuing to gently stroke Elsa's face. "Now sleep, I’ve got you. You’re okay,” Anna kissed her cheek. “I’ve got you.”

Elsa nodded, letting herself slip into the murky waters between being asleep and being awake. She was okay because Anna had her back. And Anna wasn’t going to let go. 

“Oh, Elsa,” she heard Anna say, and it sounded like she was far away as Elsa slowly drifted off to sleep, Anna’s hand resting firmly on her shoulder. “What would I do without you?” 

_You’ll always have me,_ Elsa thought, returning what Anna had said to her over a year ago now, her mouth too lazy to form the words. _Thank you…_ was her last coherent thought before the world slipped into the pleasant, cool darkness of sleep. 

* * *

“Hey Elsa,” Maren walked into Elsa’s bedroom and startled the blonde awake. She ran a hand through what she could only assume was her messy bedhead and groggily sat up. “Happy birthday.”

“Mhm,” Elsa’s eyes threatened to close again. “To you?” 

Maren smiled and moved to sit next to Elsa. “To _you,_ silly,” she laughed and ruffled the puffy bangs at the top of Elsa’s head. 

“Oh. Right,” Elsa yawned. “Mhm,” she rested her head on her chin and closed her eyes again. She would just let her eyes rest, just for a second…

“Oh, come on,” Maren pulled the blankets off of Elsa and the blonde’s head shot straight up with a gasp. “See, got your attention. Now, ready for today?” 

Elsa took Maren’s hand and slid off of the bed. As Maren pulled her to her feet and pushed her toward an outfit hanging on the wall, Elsa realized with an ounce of guilt that if… Well, if Maren was with anyone else, that would have been a moment for a kiss. And Elsa, she wanted that; she did, but not quite then. She was not quite ready. Something was holding her back, and whether it was her apprehension toward Maren being a _woman_ or that she was just too much of a perfectionist for a kiss to not be perfect - in the perfect place, perfect time, perfectly planned-

Elsa wasn’t quite sure. But she was worried that it angered Maren, the brunette herself seemed to be ready for a kiss and possibly more, and Elsa was scared that she was holding Maren back from her happiness. But Maren was a good girlfriend and a great person and would never, _ever_ do anything that Elsa wasn’t ready for. 

She got dressed, wearing an outfit similar to her spirit dress, but lacking the flowy bits and bobs, so in reality it was just comfortable blue leggings and a semi-long shirt. But she liked it and felt pretty, so she guessed that was what mattered. With one of her hands, Maren took Elsa’s hand and with the other, she plopped her hat on top of Elsa’s messy platinum locks. It was warm and homey. Elsa smiled as she shrunk into its snug comfort. Maren gave her a beam. 

“I never tire of seeing you in that,” she said. Elsa nodded. 

“I should just keep it,” she agreed. 

Maren snatched the hat off of her head and placed it smugly back on top of her own. Elsa whined in displeasure. 

“I was happy in that,” she huffed. 

“Hm, get your own,” Maren smirked and led Elsa out of the room. “Oh wait, didn’t Yelena make you one?” 

“Yes, but it’s back home. And I like yours better. It’s warmer.” 

“I never tire of that either,” Maren smiled. “Hearing you talk about the forest as your home.”

“Well… it is, isn’t it? Stop trying to change the subject, give me the hat back,” Elsa grasped for it, but Maren ducked out of the way. 

“Aw, feisty, are we?” she laughed and placed her hat back on Elsa’s head.

“No, you’re just not very nice.” 

“And when are _you_ ever very nice? I think I’m allowed to be a little mean once in a while,” Maren smirked. “Now come on, it’s birthday breakfast time for our lovely birthday girl. Also, Anna’s waiting.” 

Elsa let Maren lead her to the small, familial dining room. Anna was waiting with a sleepy Kristoff and several plates stacked high with chocolate pancakes. Olaf was practically bouncing off the walls and talking to Sven, who was only responding with tired grunts. 

“Happy birthday,” they all said, it was quiet and excessively exhausted, but Elsa’s smile widened. 

“Now, just don’t get sick,” Anna sniggered. “Has it really been all four?”

Elsa counted down and then nodded. 

“First, how could I forget? The snowgies! That was…” Anna shrugged, looking at a loss for words.

“Compelling? Unnerving? Terrifying, sentient snow-balls?” 

“Hey!” Olaf chimed in. Elsa chuckled.

“Sorry.” 

“...Interesting,” Anna squeaked. “Then, wasn’t that the year of the Million Snow Giraffes?”

“There were like, three!” Elsa exclaimed in annoyance, crossing her arms over her chest. She’d run another fever on Anna’s birthday the year before the previous, and when her powers went haywire again, this time several snow giraffes formed. And wreaked havoc through Arendelle. Fortunately, Elsa was able to dissolve them fairly easily.

“Why giraffes though?” Anna laughed. 

“I wanted to know what sound they made!” Elsa huffed out a breath, the puff white against the air. 

“And that just _had_ to include wreaking havoc throughout the city?” 

“It was _initially_ supposed to be another gift for you, but then I couldn’t control it because I was _sick_ and the rest is history!”

“Hm, fine,” Anna raised a skeptical eyebrow. Elsa groaned.

“It was!! And then the year after that was... Snowgies again," Elsa sighed. "Marshmallow has told me that he is fed up with them and contemplating throwing them into the sea..."

"Not my little brothers!" Olaf gasped in fear. 

"Oh," Elsa realized that her words had come out in front of Olaf... her son? She still wasn't quite sure. "Sorry. Marshmallow's _not_ going to do anything to your little brothers," she assured the snowman. "And then last year... that was-”

“Oh, god,” Anna paled. “I don’t even want to think about it.”

“What happened?” Maren frowned. 

“Apparently _someone_ vomits snow and creates minor snowstorms when she faints. Now I have no idea who we could be talking about, but it definitely isn’t someone who needs to _hydrate-”_

“Oh, shut up. It was minor heat exhaustion.”

“Minor?” Anna scoffed. “You made like three different snowstorms and there was snow-vomit everywhere.” 

“Well, that sounds…” Maren waved her hand in emphasis. 

“Horrific?” Anna supplemented. “It was.” 

“It was fine!” Elsa narrowed her eyes. “Minor dehydration, minorly overheated-”

“Speaking of which, has someone had any water to drink recently?”

“It’s _winter!”_

“Yes, and? Does that change anything about needing to drink water... to stay _alive_?" Anna rolled her eyes and pointed to a platter on the table. "Now, eat your pancakes before they're cold.”

* * *

Anna rushed onto the platform in front of the castle’s doors, underneath where the Yule bell would hang in just a few days, and shot Elsa a wide grin. 

“Hi everyone,” she cleared her throat and a hush fell over the entire courtyard, where Anna had gathered almost all of Arendelle. It had always come as a mystery to Elsa how easily silence could fall over the place with as much as a clear of one’s throat. Anna smiled at the crowd. “Thank you all for coming here today to help us celebrate my sister, Elsa’s birthday. For once, she managed to not get sick!” 

Elsa sent Anna a glare as the congregation giggled. 

“And that’s probably because it’s not my birthday, right Els?”

Elsa swallowed the mouthful of ice cream cake she had been eating, the plate cold in her hands. “You know that’s not true. I can’t help getting sick!”

“Sure, sure, whatever. I just- I wanted to say a few things, you know, let you know what you mean to me and give you one final gift that I figured should _probably_ be announced to the general public as well. Um, I’ll get to that later. I know that we both had a rough start to our story, what with, well, _everything._ But I wouldn’t be standing here today, I wouldn’t be who I am without you, and you just- you mean the world to me. I hope you know that there are no words to express that in the way I want to, because what you mean to me is more than any word in any language can express.”

Elsa blushed and smiled softly at the collective _“aww,”_ that Anna’s words induced. 

“And so, um, without further ado,” Anna laughed. “I guess, my final gift to not just you, Elsa, but to everyone here is, well, you’ll understand. Just listen. Due to biases and laws that were unfortunately put in place by my grandfather,” Anna cleared her throat. “That I refuse to stand by any longer, homosexuality was biased against and same-gender marriage was illegal. Today, that changed. It felt right to make a big announcement, because this is a big thing. And Elsa-”

Elsa’s breath caught in the back of her throat, her head pounding.

“-This is for you and everyone like you who’ve had to live in shame for years. I’m sorry. From this moment on, and forevermore, you will not have to live in fear of being who you really are. So, happy birthday, Elsa. I love you. The real you.” 

A cheer rippled through the crowd. 

Elsa stared at Anna, the redhead’s face coming in and out of focus. The plate in her hands suddenly felt heavy, really heavy, and then it wasn’t in her hands anymore and then the ice-cream cake that had been on it hit the ground with a squelch and then the plate fell to the floor and then- Elsa’s breaths pounded in her ears as her knees gave underneath her and she collapsed to the ground, pulling her knees to her chest and hiding her face in them as sobs began to wrack her body. There was everything and everything and everything and everything and it was good and good and good-

And then Anna was there, holding Elsa tight against her chest and gently rocking her side to side. “Let it out,” she whispered. “I’ve got you.”

“Happy tears,” Elsa spluttered. Anna rubbed a circle on her back and smiled down at her. 

“Yep, that’s right. Happy tears. We finally turned them into happy tears. Now let them out, it’s okay. I’m here. I’ve got you.” 

Elsa buried her face in Anna’s neck as she began to sob even harder, and then suddenly Kristoff was there too and Elsa felt so small and then Maren was there and thanking Anna and then Elsa was crying so hard she couldn’t breathe-

“Elsa, deep breaths,” Maren’s voice was scratchy too. “Try to just take a little one at first, if you can’t.”

Elsa did try and she managed to get a tiny wisp of air; it felt soothing against her sore throat. She looked around and gasped. The place was covered in ice, but no one seemed to mind, and there were so many couples kissing as snow started to fall into their hair and brush across their faces… Elsa sniffed. _This_ was the beauty in her powers that she struggled for so long to find - the times where it slipped out but because she was so happy and it just added to the beauty of the world in the moment. Maren offered her a hand and helped her to her shaky feet. 

“This is beautiful,” Elsa whispered. “My ice?” 

“It’s your ice,” Anna moved in closer and squeezed her hand. “All of this is you, Elsa. All of this is your doing. Not just the ice, but all these people’s happiness. Look at them,” Anna waved her hand to the crowd. Elsa looked closer and saw a hundred-odd people kissing, and maybe she even saw a couple of people proposing. 

“No,” she said to Anna. “You did this. You were the one who got up there and made that speech.” 

“But I couldn’t and probably wouldn’t have done it without you. Thank you, Elsa. Thank you for being true to yourself. Thank you for being _you_. All of you.”

Elsa turned to Anna and pulled her into a hug and then the tears were streaming down her face again and maybe she couldn’t breathe and she was sobbing and sobbing and then somewhere along the way, Anna got replaced by Maren and then their faces were less than two inches apart-

Elsa leaned in a little closer until their noses brushed. Maren frowned slightly but it was quickly replaced by a smile. “Are you sure you’re ready for this? I’m totally okay with it and I’ll support you and be there with you and for you if you’re not. This is a big deal and a big place and there are hundreds of people here. I want to make sure that you’re sure that you’re ready and that you know what we’re doing.” 

Elsa nodded. She'd waited long enough for this, _Maren_ had waited long enough for this, they both had, and right then, right where they were- Elsa was sure there was no place that could possibly be more perfect. “I am. I’m sure.” 

“Okay,” Maren took a deep breath. “We’re in the middle of a courtyard, the whole kingdom is here watching us, being gay was literally just legalized, and now we’re going to kiss. In front of everyone. That sounds… viable. Okay.” 

Elsa gave her the biggest smile she could muster through the few happy tears that were still sliding down her face. She might not have been the happiest person alive, but at that moment, she was sure she was at least an honorable mention. 

And then their lips met and Elsa was sure she _was,_ in fact, the happiest person alive, even when the snow turned to a blizzard, even when the sky darkened into a storm, even when her tears started pouring heavier, freezing to her cheeks… Even when she fell to her knees again and Maren held her close while she sobbed-

They were all happy tears anyway. 

The happiest tears.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi friends. 
> 
> ahhh I hope you liked reading this as much as I liked writing it! This was a _process_ let me tell you... I have nearly 6000 words of deleted scenes that I can post if anyone wants to see them. Just let me know and I will.
> 
> I really love this universe and will possibly do more, though this is currently the extent of what I have planned at the moment. If inspiration strikes, then I'll write something. 
> 
> if you have any ideas/prompts/literally anything you could always hit me up on tumblr: [al's tumblr](https://ibleedrainbowblood.tumblr.com) I'd be super-duper-triple...ruper? happy to hear from you!
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading and I truly hope you enjoyed,  
> \- al <3


End file.
